History of the Bolinas Museum & Museum Buildings
From the beginning, the Bolinas Museum has been nurtured by generous supporters and the volunteers who contribute their time, money and diverse skills to make this Museum such a success.
The Bolinas Museum was initially established to preserve the fascinating history of this little town. The story of the Bolinas Museum also includes the surprising story of it’s buildings (see below) constructed when the town was growing up around the wharf area that served as a center for busy maritime activity for over 80 years.
The Museum
David Van Dusen (left) and Craig Ayliffe founded the Bolinas Memorial Museum that grew up to become the Bolinas Museum. Both men owned historical buildings and knew familes whose roots went back to the first Bolinas settlers. They saw the need to have a repository to preserve and share Bolinas history. In 1983, they opened the incorporated Bolinas Memorial Museum. Townspeople immediately responded by contributing historically significant objects, photos and memorabilia that are the core of today’s history collection.
Though the new, incorporated museum was housed in a tiny building, Craig, as Director/ Curator, mounted sophisticated exhibitions of both historical objects and 19th Century art. He did extensive research and organized events and educational talks. David gathered histories and objects for the collection, raised money and awakened people to the importance of preserving and sharing the town’s history.
Joan Bertsch joined in and acted as financial organizer until 2006. Margi De Greeve was a leader in developing the museum, including contributing treasures from her dynamic family’s long Bolinas history. She and Peggy Duncan ran a thrift store to support the little museum.
Ray Moritz and Dotty Le Mieux founded the Bolinas Historical Society about 1982, and produced the lively Bolinas Historical Quarterly newsletter. Through the group’s time-consuming efforts, an invaluable collection of images, oral histories and materials was assembled. They eventually gifted their collection to enrich the museum archives. Ray and Dotty continued to contribute to the knowledge and materials of the collection for many years.
David Van Dusen and Craig Ayliffe put in countless hours and much of their own money into the Bolinas Memorial Museum and established it as a thriving entity. In time, each of them left Bolinas for other pursuits. They left behind a remarkable gift to the community and all of its visitors. Through the efforts of countless generous volunteers and supporters, the little Bolinas Memorial Museum, has evolved into today’s polished Bolinas Museum.
The transition to the next chapter of the museum’s development was guided by Margi De Greeve and Sandy Madgid, both dedicated members of the Museum’s Board of Directors.
Joyce Clements and Linda Samuels led the next transformation of the Museum. As the next President of the Board of Directors, Joyce Clements expanded the scope of the museum and brought it recognition and a coveted national grant. She knew there was a wealth of talented coastal artists that needed a venue so, in 1988, she led the expansion of the museum’s mission statement to include featuring coastal Marin artists. In a little side room of Gallery Route One, the Museum regularly exhibited local artists from a program called The Living Artist Project. Joyce invited Linda Samuels to be the museum’s curator. Though the museum was housed in a building that was approximately 8’ feet wide and 15’long, Samuels curated both art and history exhibitions that drew a growing audience.
In 1988 the historic buildings that are now the museum complex were in rotted and falling apart. Today's courtyard was a swamp full of trash. Someone was likely to tear the structures down and degrade the historic face of Bolinas with contemporary buildings. Fortunately, Ewan Mcdonald had the financial resources and vision to purchase the complex, beautifully restore the structures and create the courtyard. When Ewan offered the little museum a new gallery space in the main building, saying “yes” was the commitment to become a professional museum. The Bolinas Museum's grand opening in 1989, revealed a handsome one-room gallery with a floating wall defining two exhibition spaces for art and history. The adjacent building was rented for the Thrift and Gift store to support the Museum. Sara Pusey, Superintendent of Bolinas-Stinson School, stepped in to archive the museum’s collection of history materials. Linda Samuels created exhibitions that ranged from fine art to environmental and historic issues and established a tradition of popular fund raising events that have continued to be successful into the 21st Century. In the early 1990s Linda left the museum to pursue other career interests.
Dolores Richards developed the Bolinas Museum as we know it today. After an interim, Dolores Richards became the Executive Director of the Bolinas Museum in 1995. Dolores proved to be a visionary who worked tirelessly to develop and refine the Bolinas Museum. When Ewan Macdonald offered to sell the building complex, Dolores led a capital campaign that had legendary success. Many people generously gave significant donations to ensure that this goal came to fruition and the Museum now has its own home and footprint in downtown Bolinas. Dolores created five museum galleries, several supported by generous donations (see below) including the popular history room where Phil Frank created many important history exhibitions. Dolores also established the Museum's Permanent Collection of locally relevant fine art and photography. In June of 2006 after 12 years, Dolores Richards retired as Executive Director of the Bolinas Museum. Dolores had guided the deveiopment of a small-town museum supported by a thrift store, to its current polished standard of professionalism and reputation for excellence.
In 2006,
Lucy Van Sands Seeburg (Vandy) stepped in as Executive Director of the Museum. A long time Bolinas resident, Vandy Seeburg brought a background in the arts, heart-felt dedication to continued excellence and development of the Bolinas Museum. One of Vandy's first actions was to renovate the Museum's history room through a financial donation in the memory of
Amy Jordan, who loved Bolinas. The light filled exhibition space brings attention to the importance and pleasure of knowing the history of place. Long-time staff member and History Curator,
Elia Haworth, created the new history room installation and changing exhibits. Vandy has also enlivened the use of the lovely courtyard with many dynamic free concerts and events that draw in members of the local communities and visitors from all over the world. To handle much of the curating and installation of exhibitions,
Dieter Tremp joined the staff, and in 2008,
Christine Borg became the office manager and registrar. Working in collaboration with an excellent
Board of Directors, Vandy leads a thriving Museum.
Membership in the museum continues to grow both locally and from people from throughout the Bay area and beyond. Donations, whether as major donors, single memberships or a dollar in the donation box, are generous affirmations that the Museum is valuable to enriching people’s lives. Volunteers serve as Board Members, docents, event volunteers, researchers, historians, guest curators, organizers, project workers, exhibitors, and much more. Families and individuals have generously given historic objects and information to be preserved by the museum for all to enjoy for generations to come. And artists, when invited to contribute to the Permanent Collection, have given outstanding artwork. Those hired to work on the museum buildings bring their finely-honed skills. The small staff works hard to bring diverse, high quality exhibitions and events to the community and visitors. And certainly, every visitor is part of the success of the museum.
History of the Bolinas Museum Buildings
The Bolinas Museum’s complex of historic buildings date back to the late 1800s at a time when Bolinas was a little settlement centered around maritime business on bustling Wharf Road. For more than 80 years, commerce depended on boat traffic that commuted between Bolinas and San Francisco, bringing supplies and carrying Bolinas lumber and food products to the growing city.
This photograph shows the original setting of two of the museum buildings. On the left is the big saloon, its distinctive doorway facing the street corner. The little market building on the right was picked up and moved behind the saloon in 1908. (It now serves as the Museum’s Photography and Coastal Marin Artists galleries.) Decades later, Henry Hoirup owned the saloon building where he ran a meat market. In 1935, he had the saloon rotated ninety degrees and joined to a hotel that had been built next door, making the structure as it is today.
In 1988 the complex of historic buildings at 48 and 50 Wharf Road were in desperate disrepair and for sale. Ewan Macdonald purchased the complex with the vision and financial ability for total restoration of the buildings. Ewan hired Roger Peacock to do the extensive and carefully crafted project. The handsome result preserves the historic 19th century architectural face of Bolinas.
Ewan offered the Bolinas Museum a space in the main building. Moving from the the Musuem's original 8'X15' space to the new gallery was a pivotal in the development of the Museum. The Museum also rented the building across the courtyard for a thrift shop to support the Museum.
In 1996 Ewan Macdonald offered to sell the building complex to the Museum and Director Dolores Richards led a successful capital campaign to purchase the buildings and eventually oversaw the final payment on the mortgage. Many people gave significant donations to ensure that this goal came to fruition. Dolores transformed the museum to include five galleries, some facilitated by specific financial gifts. Susie Russell Buell, who spent much of her youth in Bolinas, supported the establishment of a room dedicated to Bolinas history and named after her family--the Floyd Russell Family History Room. The Helene Sturdivant Mayne Photography Gallery was the gift of Lesly Mayne with his daughter Chrissie Mayne Crawford and son, Stephen Mayne. Their family has owned their Bolinas house since 1901. Helene was a noted pictorialist photographer. The Margaret Greene Permanent Collection Gallery is supported by a generous gift from the John A. Sellon Family, through Jefferey Sellon. It is named in honor of a remarkable woman who was renowned in Marin County and Bolinas. The Wintersteen Courtyard is a gift from James and Beth Wintersteen, long-time supporters of the arts who were instrumental during the development of the Bolinas Museum. The lovely courtyard is a welcoming place for locals and visitors to relax and for many courtyard events. The Japanese maple trees and their surrounding benches were gifts from Herman and Leah Schwartz, David and Mary Bromwell and from Margaret Greene in memory of her son Rogers Greene. David and Mary Bromwell gifted the museum with the wonderful stone fountain by Welton Rotz that has become a centerpiece for the courtyard. The stone-sculptured bench is a gift from the artist Welton Rotz. Friends of Jeffery Ruesch provided the Museum’s entry gates as a memorial to him, commissioned from Bay Area metal sculptor Carl Dern, who in turn gave his sculpture “Chair” as a permanent installation. Gina’s Patio, between the main gallery and the photography/Coastal Marin Artists gallery, is a gift from Mimi Griffin Jones in memory of her granddaughter Gina Marin Monaco. The Macdonald Family gave all the welcoming benches that invite visitors to sit awhile. In front of the street-side double doors, handmade bricks display the names of generous donors who contributed to the capital campaign. Inside the Museum, a plaque honors major donors whose great generosity led the way to successfully purchasing the Museum's permanent home.
During Richards tenure as Director there were many changes to the buildings. Including changing doorways, a floating wall, hardwood floors in the main gallery, an art storage room, archive room, porches on exterior doors, the gateway, stone fountain and courtyard storage. When Dolores Richards retired in 2006, she left the community and the Museum with a beautifully maintained historic building.
When Lucy Van Sands Seeburg (Vandy) stepped in as Executive Director in 2006, she further refined the museum buildings by adding beautiful hard wood floors in all the galleries to match the main gallery. She made conservation oriented changes to the Permanent Collection gallery. And with a financial donation in the memory of Amy Jordan, who loved Bolinas, Vandy renovated the history room, creating a beautiful new exhibition space.
The museum’s buildings have served many purposes since the 1800s including as saloon and boarding house, market and Post Office, antiques store, County Library, restaurant, galleries, shops, studios, offices, apartments and more. Today the buildings house the Museum’s five galleries, a suite of offices, conservation and archival storage rooms, a gracious courtyard and spaces for other community businesses.
